Mercury Rising

Mercury, The Messenger, (also known as Hermes in Greek mythology) was a speedy trickster with winged sandals and helm. The Roman God of communication, commerce and travel, who could transcend between Heaven and the Underworld.

Mercury, the element Hg on Mendeleev’s Periodic Table. Mercury is a very dense liquid metal. It freezes to a solid, contracting as its temperature falls and expanding as it warms up, hence its use in thermometers, until broken thermometers were recognized as hazardous waste.

Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit invented the mercury thermometer in 1714. He was a Dutch physicist and inventor of scientific instruments. His Fahrenheit temperature scale ranged from a value for frozen water (30°F) to normal body temperature (90°F) which was revised to 32°F and 98.6°F. The original Mister Fahrenheit.

Mercury, the amalgam of Gold’s addiction. Mercury the environmental consequence. Minamata Disease and Grassy Narrows contamination. The Almadén mines in Spain, a life sentence for convicts. Cinnabar, a mercury sulphide mineral, the primary ore from which mercury is extracted.

Mercury, The Planet, smallest and closest to the sun in our solar system, with a zippy annual orbit of only 88 Earth days. Although Mercury the element is recognized as nasty stuff, the name and its connotation of character, speed and electrical conductivity has maintained its popularity and usage through association.

penny youngash

Thank You

The visuals for my Mercury Rising blog were a total collaboration of other peoples art, knowledge and talents. Can I still call it Art?

I can’t begin to understand the astrophysics required to send a rocket into space or the technology for capturing telescopic images of distant planets and galaxies. Thank you NASA for the enlightenment.

Isn’t it wonderful that museums exist with wonderful collections to explore, although I am reminded of the controversy of how these exhibits were procured in the first place. Preservation or Displacement?

I always enjoy connecting seemingly unrelated ideas and images together. Thank you digital world. My acknowledgements:

NASA’s Messenger Mission Images (launched in 2004, entering Mercury’s orbit in 2011. Orbited Mercury for four years studying its geology, magnetic field and chemical composition before impact with Mercury’s surface in 2015.)

Mercury Project badge (NASA Mercury Project 1958-1963, first human space flight program). Astronomical sign for Mercury.

Roman God Mercury (Getty Museum Collection, artist Johann Gregor van der Schardt, Dutch 1530-1581)

Mercury Thermometer (Whipple Museum of the History of  Science, Cambridge University)

Freddie Mercury (Queen Album, The Game, released 1980 EMI Records)

There is so much, I just don’t know. I am constantly overwhelmed by the magnitude.

penny youngash